Mom Facing Jail Time After Helping Daughter Stop Bullying

by
ShareTap Staff 12/1/2017

The internet and technology has certainly changed the way children grow up these days, however, there are still some things that never truly stop being part of childhood. Whether we like it or not, bullying is one of those realities.

When Sarah Sims found out that her nine-year-old daughter was being bullied at her elementary school in Norfolk, Virginia, she was heartbroken as any parent would be. Her first attempt at tackling the situation included placing calls and emailing the school administration.

But after repeated attempts to contact her daughter's elementary school with no answers, she set out to gather proof herself. Sarah decided to pack a voice recorder in her daughter's backpack with the hope that she could catch the bullies red-handed.

When the recorder and its purpose was discovered by the school however, their reaction was anything but sympathy. Instead of apologizing to Sarah about their own inaction towards the situation, they instead fought back.

School officials immediately reported Sarah to the police. The mother was stunned to learn that she was being hit with some pretty serious charges - both for using a concealed device to record, and a misdemeanor charge for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. If found guilty, Sarah could face up to five years of prison time.

Sarah later told her local news station WAVY that nothing about this seemed fair:

"I was mortified ... If I'm not getting an answer from you, what am I left to do? ... The thing that bothers me the most is that I am yet to get a response from anyone in the administration..."

Luckily for Sarah, after her story was shared on the news the charges were eventually dropped. Nonetheless, this has a lot of parents wondering how they would have reacted had this happened to their child. More importantly, it also raises important questions about how the school has further victimized a student who was already going through a hard time.

Sarah makes us all wonder, where do we draw the lines when it comes to bullying?